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Associação de plantas e jardins em climas mediterrânico

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Associação de plantas e jardins em climas mediterrânico  -  Mediterranean Gardening Association - Portugal

By Rosie Peddle,  May 2015

Mediterranean Gardening Association, Portugal

International Spring Conference May 2015 Mediterranean Gardening Association – Portugal

Garden visits and reports

PRIVATE  GARDEN  VISITS  - and garden centres in and around Colares.

Friday May 1st   

Our first visit of the weekend was to  Verdeal da Roca, Estrada do Cabo da Roca 1, Azoia, 2705-001 Colares  Tel 91 722 0426 a Plant Nursery open to the public, but set in a garden, a great range of plants in a lovely setting.  We were met by the owners,  Duarte Namorado Simões and Maria João, who  met our group and gave us a guided tour, including their own private garden.  The current garden is set around the old family home and has been developed only over the last two years following their move from a previous plant nursery business in Caparica, south of Lisbon. The old house was a mill and there are several ‘levadas’ or water courses still running through the garden, although the amount of water has diminished. The owners have collected excellent examples of working stone items which are displayed throughout the garden, including many amphoras of various sizes, stone troughs and mill stones. The large shaped stone at the entrance had a lovely display of Armeria maritima 'Pink lusitanica' which tempted many in the party to buy.

The range of plants on the gently sloping site was a lesson in the diversity it is possible to grow in this special part of Portugal, there were large examples of Leucodendron, grevilleas and some exotic beaucarnias from the Acores. Maria João explained that since they had arrived in the more humid garden and they had been fed and watered more often, the plants had branched and even started flowering. Other plants on offer were the delicate Dianella, and a tall flowering Fremontodendron californica with butter yellow flowers. Our timing was perfect to see the rare Rosa ‘Belle Portugaise’ in full flower and there were many requests for Maria to propagate this and make it available for sale !

Email :verdealdaroca@gmail.com  GPS  38.775881, -9.481138

Margaretha Nilson’s garden in Colares.  Margaretha and Bruno have lived here for the past two years, and have been busy developing and adding to the previous plantings in the garden.   We were warmly  welcomed by Margaretha and heard about her plans for the future.

As the lovely old house is built into the side of a mountain, it has a series of terraces, each divided into a series of garden rooms. Each level is fronted with a Pittosporum hedge, for protection from the sea winds but their relatively low level  gave fantastic views out towards the sea and neighbouring country-side, typical of the older gardens in Colares.

There is a formal, box-edged herb garden, a tiled water tanque surrounded with old camellia trees, and many old Portuguese  tiles have been used to decorate steps, fountains and walls. An old citrus orchard  has been replaced with lavender, cistus, rosemary, echium, and other plants that can withstand the lack of water in summers. A shady area has been filled with more camellias, Helleborus corsicus, and Geranium maderense and a lovely group of tall white Watsonia stems against the sky. There is a small swimming pool, overlooked by a shady garden  with fern trees, a perfect place for lunch in the summers.  

Our afternoon visit included refreshments on the terrace in front of the beautifully renovated house, we are very grateful to Margaretha and Bruno for sharing their paradise garden with us.  

One of our group who lives locally suggested a short diversion to Cabo de Roca, the most western point in Europe. This was because she knew that the special Armeria pseudarmeria would be in full flower on the clifftops, and we unanimously opted for the opportunity to see this beautiful native plant. We were not disappointed by the Armeria, which in places was in drifts of tall white flowers. What was rather upsetting was the almost wholesale coverage of the clifftop by the invasive Carpobrotus edulis, a special environment spoiled by the lack of control of this horrible plant.

Monday May 4th

Merran van der Tak’s garden in Colares. Merran welcomed us at the entrance gate and her tour started at the top of the garden with a lovely view through the mature cork oaks. Merran has taken to gardening after retiring from working in an office and is relishing the opportunity to try many different plants in her steeply sloping 15,000 sq m garden. Rolling pathways give access to the interesting areas made in the garden. Everything on the property, apart from the mature trees, has been brought in since 2005. It was very impressive to hear that all the pathways, stone walls and the lovely old-style house are new. She has retained many of the native trees and shrubs as background to her own experiments in planting. They believe that part of the old agricultural site was used as a vineyard for the nearby 13th Century Convento do Carmo. A small area of terracing and some old vines were found when clearing the land.  The garden is English in style but very Portuguese in content taking advantage of the special growing conditions. The house and garden have both been made since 2005, an object lesson in determined efforts to replace brambles, canes and weeds with a lovely garden in a very short time.  

Contrasting foliage colours are used to great effect in the shady areas under the trees and there is a wonderful selection of shrubs and woody plants which give a mature feel to this garden. As we progressed down the garden we found that it was important to look up as well as down to appreciate the plantings from both sides of the pathways. A lovely stone arched folly feature at the top of the garden is the starting point for a watercourse Merran calls ‘the river’ and this gives a cool and humid feel as well as the lovely sound of water.

It was obvious to everyone that no matter how difficult the site and how overgrown, it is possible to make a garden and show what the site has to offer beneath all the brambles !

Following a lovely lunch at the RESTAURANTE TOCA DO JÚLIO in Colares we once more boarded our minibus for the final garden visit of our weekend.

Francoise Baudry’s garden is an outstanding plantsman's paradise of 5 acres that is set on a sheltered hillside just outside of Sintra. The stage is set with magnificent mature trees that provide plenty of shade near the house combined with informal planting. Retaining walls create large terraces on the slopes which are linked by cleverly hidden stairs or sloping paths amongst the shrubbery. Among  the trees in flower for our visit was Hymenosporum flavum, covered in lemon and white scented blossom, Francoise said it was one of her favourite trees in the garden and we could all see why !  Another tree in flower was the unusual Liriodendron tulipifera and the lower sweeping branches were covered in the distinctive yellow and green flowers in upward facing cups which give the tree its name.

Near the house, the planting is lush and exuberant – an interesting mix of plants from Australia and New Zealand with palms, birches and plane trees – but as you move away from the house the planting becomes more restrained and natural. Winding verdant lawns near the house refresh the eye, and the numerous seating opportunities cleverly placed around the garden mean that the casual explorer has plenty of opportunity to rest and take in the views or just enjoy the ambience.  There was one plant in flower which we all admired and a lucky few were offered cuttings, Francoise was not sure of the name but later investigation seems to point to Iboza riparia,  a deep pink colour form with long plums of densely packed small flowers on long waving stems with highly aromatic leaves. Once again we saw good numbers of the tall white Watsonia bulbs from South Africa.

This garden is set around the old house and,  again, artistic use of old Portuguese tiles, water tanks and benches provided links between house and garden, especially when sitting on the shaded terraces near to the house.  There was a lovely collection of large flowered pelargoniums, some very old cultivars, which added colour at strategic points along the walls and steps. Exploring further we found immaculate vegetable and herb gardens, and the chickens were very welcoming !  

Other gardens open to visit strictly by appointment only.

Quinta do Corvo, Ben Weijers Paquete Telephone before arriving to confirm time for visit

http://www.quintadocorvo.eu/en_mapa.html   Tel. 219291841    GPS 38.797178, -9.458646  

Quinta do Corvo  is situated in a green valley, near the village of Colares in the protected area of the Parque Natural.  The property consists of appox. 3 acres.  For centuries, farmers lived and worked here, but now all the buildings have been extensively refurbished and renovated, giving the property several lovely buildings. The garden of the Quinta is a unique feature in itself, not to be missed. The owner is a passionate gardener. Inspired by many garden trips all over the world, he designed the garden with the help of a well known Dutch garden-architect. Now, the garden presents a combination of an English landscaped garden with an Italian formal garden. Therefore, over the last 20 years and within the humid and mild Sintra climate a lush, romantic subtropical place has been created which needs to be explored to appreciate its splendour. Today, it not only houses all kind of animals, such as sheep, ducks, chicken, dogs and cats, it also hosts a collection of modern art. The Quinta provides a welcome for visitors needing accommodation locally, see the web site for info.

Almáa Sintra Hostel Caminho dos Frades, Quinta dos Lobos    2710-560 Sintra

3,5 ha (8,6 acres) of luxurious gardens . A visit is recommended by  Sintra based Medical Herbalist, Fernanda Botelho,  mature trees, vegetable and herb gardens on the steep slope below  Quinta da Regaleira.  Almáa is an eco hostel run on sustainable priniciples based in one of the oldest properties in Sintra.

Directions 10 mins Walk from Village Center: Follow the directions of Palácio da Regaleira / Seteais

At the front door of Palácio da Regaleira turn right (passing through a car park in front of an Arabic style house) and enter in Rua Trindade Coelho (it has a "dead end" sign). Follow that road for about 400 meters and you’ll get to Caminho dos Frades. Keep going for 10 meters (don’t turn at Caminho da Fonte dos Amores) and you’ll find at your left hand the gate of the Hostel.

Web site www.almaasintrahostel.com   Fernanda´s blog http://malvasilvestre.blogspot.pt

Tel 21 924 00 08 to contact Elisabete to arrange your visit, strictly by appointment only.

Specialist garden centres

Jardins Sintra garden centre, orchid specialist   HORÁRIO:  Mon - Sun: 09:00–18:00

E.N. nº 9, Ral - 2710 Sintra

Telefone: +351 219 613 326   Web site www.jardinssintra.pt

Email: geral@jardinssintra.pt

Coordenadas GPS:  Latitude: 38°49'28.27"N  Longitude: 9°21'29.62"W

Quinta da Eira garden centre.

The manager of the Quinta da Eira viveiro Sintra was once in the New York botanic garden. Pedro Lerias  is very knowledgeable on plants for the area.  Sintra 2710-626   Tel  219 240 252

Recommended places to eat

 RESTAURANTE TOCA DO JÚLIO, LDA Estrada do Rodízio 12 2710 COLARES  Tel 21 928 3544

GPS  38.800244, -9.466715

RESTAURANTE RIBEIRINHA DE COLARES, Avenida dos Bombeiros Voluntários 71, 2705 Sintra

http://www.ribeirinhadecolares.online.pt     GPS 38.803031, -9.449083

MGAP on Flickr